Kids sent home for a few weeks

[Feellikedancingyeah]

It's started already. Two yeargroups in separate secondary schools have been sent home for a few weeks. And a sixth form in another school. All 3 schools are within a mile of each other .
Our son's school is quarter of a mile away so I have a bad feeling we will be next

@10storeylovesong

I'm guessing the city mentioned is Salford. And I feel that the schools are making a point, because as far as I am aware it is one child in each year group which has tested positive and the whole year has been sent to isolate until 18th September. I'm not a teacher, so happy to be corrected, but I thought it was 2 cases to pop a bubble?!

They aren't doing it to make a point... schools must consult with PHE or whatever it's now called ( who tell the school what to do), before they make a decision to close 'bubbles'.

I live in the same town as the school that boris visited the other week on the first day it opened (Leicestershire)
It's know sent an email to patents that a teacher has tested positive for covid
And so a massive chunk of the teachers and students now have to isolate
It's also in very close proximity to many other schools too 😬

Rumours pinging round last night here that 2 positive cases in dds 6th form. She's gutted. Had no communication from school so far, so she's getting ready as normal. Praying it's just a rumour.

Got one dc in 6th form and one in primary and I start uni in 2 weeks. I have a feeling we will be spending many days homeschooling this winter 🙈 today I am going to convert my living room cabinet into a homeschooling stationery store and update an old laptop for dd to use.

@IslaBas

I wish they’d factored all of this in before we had to spend £££ on uniform

Would it have killed them to just scrap uniform off this year? Have to keep up appearances and all that

This

I'm in Leicester we went back 2 weeks ago and this week 5 schools across the county have had to close year groups because of positive tests.

From what i read it doesn't sound like the staff are isolating. Fingers crossed they are safe and dont go on to pop other year group bubbles.

Many of the school risk assessments have staff still expected to be in, even if their bubble closes. The staff only isolate if they get symptoms or PHE steps in. And yes, chances are they may be working across other bubbles - I would be as I work across the whole school.

The government guidance and lea information allowed for this.

*parents

What's more - vulnerable pupils and children of key workers should also be allowed to stay in school if their bubble has to self isolate. I think they are have to stay home if they get symptoms themselves. Again, it's in the guidance.

@TorysSuckRevokeArticle50

I'm in Leicester we went back 2 weeks ago and this week 5 schools across the county have had to close year groups because of positive tests.

Make that 6, another one on the news this morning

[quote middleager]www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/every-birmingham-school-coronavirus-outbreaks-18892700[/quote]
See how they are blaming the parents? Of course it can't be spread actually in school can it !

@Discobar who mentioned working through annual leave?
Cases now are not much different to June, schools could have opened for the rest of the summer term......and had the normal summer holidays

@Discobar but in answer to your question yes I have worked during my annual leave before

Marshabradyo

Inset days? By that you mean the teachers and adults in school?

The positive cases in the 6 year groups here are all children, not school adults. We can't be blamed yet!

You're right that these are cases that are most likely caught whilst out of school. But they've now be brought into school, by those children the government would have had us believe can't get it. The schools have obviously forgotten to install their magic Covid barriers.

As the incubation period is typically about a week (range 2-14 days) these are infections caught during the summer holidays, when we all thought it was nice and 'safe' and transmission was very low.

Transmission actually within schools won't start tomshow fr another week or two.

This isn't the most encouraging start, though

Can those asking for smaller bubbles explain how that can be done?

Back 3 days and my year 11 dd is now home for two weeks because one case in her year group.

I feel so sorry for the teachers they’re now going to have to juggle face to face delivery, and setting work for today and then picking up online teaching too.

The government knew this is what would happen but no all schools must open fully no if no buts it was always going to be a disaster. They needed to heavily invest some money to give every child a cheap tablet with 3G which would allow them to engage. They given no extra money to school because they just don’t care.

Even primary schools have often found it impossible to manage class bubbles now schools are full. Many schools are too small, too compact and over crowded. My own infant school has classes of 30 but in order to manage drop off, pick up, playtimes, lunches etc we have to have year group bubbles of 90. Anything less would have impacted more on the running of the school and ultimately affected parents in terms of timings. We weren't allowed a rota system or any system which reduced the school day for the children.

In secondary, it probably can't be done at all - not unless you abandon setting, and abolish choice of GCSE/A levels

In primary it might be possible, especially if part-time attendance were permitted and teacher could be screened off (so could be each each half seperately and the fewer numbers in the classroom gives room for a screen). Not that I'm recommending this, just laying out a possibility that doesn't involve wrecking school budgets on paying for additional staff (which is the other way to achieve smaller bubbles , again on 50% attendance per class)

@Concerned7777 at my school we did open in June and then work through the summer to plan blended learning, tweak arrangements. Problem is, without extra funding for staffing and cleaning, no more classrooms and having to have all kids in fulltime we just can't make it covid secure whatever we do. It's an impossible ask.

Two infant schools within a few miles of each other in my area have cases.

Think we will have to get used to children going to school and then being home and then going again for a while and then home again.

@SchrodingersUnicorn opened for all pupils? Did you have many pupils and bubbles isolating in the numbers we are seeing this week?

My son did 2 full days at school and yesterday, his third day, was sent home with the rest of his bubble before lunch as a pupil in the bubble tested positive. His year was the second year to be sent home.

Just not sure how sustainable all this is? A couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks at school and then home again. Repeat.

And yes, he's a teenager, and yes, he'll stay home. The school expect him online ready for a full day of online schooling.

@Concerned7777 our primary opened for all (two school trust). The government restricted us to 25% of year 10 and 12 and no more but we had them in (we wanted more as there were almost no cases in our very rural area then but it wasn't allowed). Yes, we've had 2 bubbles of 70 isolate already.

Although saying that a lot of parents chose not to send children in so our primary wasn't at capacity. Now they have so we are.

The issue now is that all these cases of community transmission have been sent into schools.
So give it a week or so , as there is no such thing as bubbles really , other than whole school ones. With teachers moving between classes and siblings etc Schools will add to the transmission.
Then those schools who are lucky enough not to get a case will be at an advantage when they come to do exams.